orchard

Our neighbors had an orchard and my brother and I used to steal the occasional peach, thinking we were getting away with something huge. We grabbed them and ran, so we didn't know if they were ripe until we had already taken them. If we were lucky, we had grabbed fruit that had grown in full sun, heavy and dark with sweetness.

Or"chard (?), n. [AS. ortgeard, wyrtgeard, lit., wortyard, i. e., a yard for herbs; wyrt herb + geard yard. See Wort, Yard inclosure.]

1.

A garden.

2.

An inclosure containing fruit trees; also, the fruit trees, collectively; -- used especially of apples, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, or the like, less frequently of nutbearing trees and of sugar maple trees.

Orchard grass Bot., a tall coarse grass (Dactylis glomerata), introduced into the United States from Europe. It grows usually in shady places, and is of value for forage and hay. -- Orchard house Hort., a glazed structure in which fruit trees are reared in pots. -- Orchard oriole Zool., a bright-colored American oriole (Icterus spurius), which frequents orchards. It is smaller and darker thah the Baltimore oriole.

© Webster 1913.